FIDE Geneva Grand Prix Round 9

In the ninth round of Neva Fondation Women's Grand Prix both leaders Anna Muzychuk (Slovenia) and Bela Khotenashvili (Georgia) won their games and share the first place with 6½ points. The Georgian player defeated Olga Girya to complete her last GM norm. Tatiana Kosintseva (Russia) outplayed Katerina Lahno and is placed third, half a point behind the leaders. The Chinese derby Hou – Ju finished in a draw, as well as the games Ushenina-Dzagnidze and Cmilyte-Kosteniuk.

The standings after 9 rounds

#

Name

Elo

Fed

Pts

1

Bela Khotenashvili

2505

GEO

6½

2

Anna Muzychuk

2585

SLO

6½

3

Tatiana Kosintseva

2517

RUS

6

4

Wenjun Ju

2544

CHN

5

5

Kateryna Lagno

2548

UKR

5

6

Anna Ushenina

2491

UKR

5

7

Yifan Hou

2617

CHN

4½

8

Nana Dzagnidze

2545

GEO

4½

9

Alexandra Kosteniuk

2491

RUS

4

10

Viktorija Cmilyte

2522

LTU

3

11

Tuvshintugs Batchimeg

2298

MGL

2½

12

Olga Girya

2463

RUS

1½

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Cmilyte-Kosteniuk 1/2-1/2

.“I didn’t have any problems in the opening and I think the position was about equal”, said Alexandra Kosteniuk at the press-conference. At the same time she was not sure if 10…e5 was a correct move as after short castling she didn’t know what to do. Both players agreed that after 14…c5 Black could equalize the position but Alexandra simply missed this chance and had to play precisely not to get into trouble. The position became very complicated after 25.Rd8-Rg8. White could have played 27.Ng3 and transfered the game into the ending with extra-pawn. Viktorija Cmilyte chose to play 27.Bd5 instead and missed 27…Bb7. White’s rook was trapped and the Lithuanian player had to sacrifice her knight in order to set free her rook. Black missed a few endgame winning opportunities and the game finished in a draw after 70 moves.

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Girya-Khotenashvili 0-1

.As Bela Khotenashvili pointed out during the press-conference, she knew that a draw in the game would give her a last GM norm and tried to play safely. Black didn’t face any problems in the opening and the position was about equal after 20 moves of play. However, Olga Girya played the inaccurate 26.Qd4 and lost a pawn while 26. Rf4 would have lead to a position with equal material and chances. After that White was suffering and tried to find drawing chances in the endgame. Bela Khotenashvili missed a few chances to win and after 74 moves the endgame Knight against Rook appeared on the board. After 5½ hours of play both players were really tired and didn’t play precisely. Olga Girya finally made a mistake on the 108th move and lost the game.

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Ushenina-Dzagnidze 1/2-1/2

.Nana Dzagnidze got a comfortable position with Black and created an isolated pawn in White’s camp. Anna Ushenina didn’t manage to get any initiative on the King’s side because Dzagnidze accurately exchanged pieces and transferred into an endgame with slightly better chances for Black. The last opportunity to play for win was to exchange the rooks 28…Rc2 29. Bc2 f6 30.Ng6 Bf3 but both players agreed that with accurate play White should be OK. The game finished in a draw after three-fold repetition.

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Ju-Hou 1/2-1/2

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Ju Wenjun chose to play the Catalan and knew the theory quite well. Ju Wenjun remembered games that continued with 14…Rb8, so 14…h6 was quite new for her. Despite the fact that White had an extra pawn, Black managed to get enough counter play. All the heavy pieces left the board and the players signed the peace after 40 moves of play.